


Swords and Shields

by disneyfananalyst



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: BAMF Carlos de Vil, BAMF Evie (Disney), BAMF Jay (Disney), BAMF Mal (Disney), Chad Charming is an Idiot, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22259152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disneyfananalyst/pseuds/disneyfananalyst
Summary: Jay and Carlos try out for Swords and Shields. Then, Jay invites Mal and Evie to practice.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Jay & Carlos De Vil, Jay & Li Lonnie
Comments: 15
Kudos: 210





	1. Try-outs

**Author's Note:**

> This has previously been on fanfiction.net, but I'm just finally getting around to uploading my fics here. I hope it makes you laugh.

"Hey!" Jay turned around as Taylor, Tiana and Naveen's son clapped him on the back.

"What's up?" Jay and Taylor had played together on the tourney team, until the season ended a couple weeks ago. While Jay was happy to have some free time, he missed hanging out with the team.

"You trying out for Swords and Shields today? It's in the arena by the gym." Jay gave Taylor a confused look.

"What's that? Sword fighting?"

"Yeah," Taylor grinned. "It's kind of like fencing, but more intense. You can use the entire arena, and even some of those moves you usually do through the kill zone. You could probably dodge some attacks really well with those flips you're always doing." Jay gave him a funny look.

"So it's just like a regular swordfight?" Taylor didn't know how to respond. What did Jay think was a regular swordfight?

"Sure?" Jay nodded, seeming satisfied with his answer.

"Cool, I'll bring Carlos." Taylor nodded, trying to hide his doubt over the smallest member of the tourney team as Jay said goodbye and ran off to find Carlos.

When the two boys arrived at the arena, they found Coach Jenkins reading off a clipboard.

"I'm glad to see you boys trying out." He handed them masks with mesh guard on the front. When they looked confused, he explained, "They're to protect your face." The two boys nodded and put them on, but kept them raised. They were already subconsciously analyzing the small arena they stepped into. The walls were padded, and there were large blocks scattered about the room. Bleachers overlooked the arena from a balcony above, where Taylor and a few of the other guys from the tourney team were sitting. Taylor waved, and Jay and Carlos waved back. Other boys had filtered in from the locker rooms, and the coach called all of the boys over with a sharp blow of the whistle. 

"We have two spots open on the team from last year. Most of you have been fencing since you were little, but ROAR is not for everyone. It's not just fencing. Someone can attack you from all angles. Use your environment to your advantage." Carlos looked at Jay. That sounded easy enough. "Captain?" The coach stepped aside. Ben smiled at the guys trying out for the team. 

"Hey guys, I'm the team captain of Swords and Shields this year. Everyone grab a sword and let's see what you can do." He held out a quiver full of fencing swords, and Jay and Carlos scoffed.

"They think those are swords?" Jay asked his buddy. Carlos cracked a smile. 

"Apparently." 

Ben had heard their short exchange, and mistook their joke for confusion. 

"These are the practice swords. We only use real swords when we're in full padding." Jay nodded, realizing that Ben had heard his comment, and kept his mouth shut. He and Carlos grabbed swords and got into two lines with the rest of the guys. Ben got in line on the other end and called out orders. 

"Assemble." Carlos raised his eyebrow at Jay in question. Jay gave an almost unnoticeable shrug, and copied what the other boys were doing. Carlos did the same. 

"Salute. Lower the point." They followed the other boys again, and Ben called for the guys to lower their masks. 

"On guard."

The other guys began to sword fight and so Jay and Carlos followed. Jay quickly disarmed Ron Fitzherbert while Carlos dueled Doug's cousin Garrett, crouching and sliding along the floor to evade his opponent's attacks. Jay jumped up on one of the blocks and used the wall to flip around Alexander Bjorgman. Ben noticed what was happening, and stepped outside of the boundary lines, raising his mask. He and the coach watched in stupor as Jay and Carlos slowly disarmed everyone else, finishing in a position back to back.

Carlos whispered, "Jay, what do we do now?" Luckily, Ben answered that, by stepping back into bounds and clapping them on the shoulders.

"That was great!"

"That was some of the greatest sword play I've ever seen," the coach said excitedly. Surprised at the recognition, Carlos said,

"If you think we're good, you should see Mal." Jay nodded.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to fight her."

Chad scoffed of course, saying "Mal? Sword fighting? Girls don't sword fight." Jay and Carlos stared at Chad in surprise.

"Of course she does," Jay said. "Evie can hold her own, too."

"Yeah," Carlos looked at Chad confused. "You have to know how to sword fight." The rest of the boys had looked at Jay and Carlos like they were crazy. The coach broke the tension.

"Well, welcome to the team!" Carlos looked to Jay, who shrugged, and they each accepted a uniform from the coach.


	2. Mal and Evie Come to Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jay has invited Mal and Evie to Swords and Shields practice. Their teammates don't realize how normal sword fighting is on the Isle.

A few weeks after Cotillion, Jay stopped Lonnie after class.

"Hey, do you have anything special planned for practice today?" She raised an eyebrow.

"That depends. What's up?" Jay shifted his feet.

"Well, uh, we might be having some… guests today." Lonnie raised her eyebrows, silently asking who, and Jay scratched his head sheepishly.

"Back before Cotillion, I may have asked Mal and Evie about stopping by some time, so that we could have a tournament. They just couldn't come… until today." In reality, Jay and Carlos had both been bugging the girls to come to practice since the day that they'd made the team, but neither of them could find the time. Evie was too busy with school and Evie's 4 Hearts to take an afternoon off, and Mal had been dedicating any free moment she could find to Ben. Today, however, was different. Mal's schedule had cleared out a lot after Cotillion, since she wasn't wasting any more time trying to learn to be someone else. Then, after crushing her midterms last week, Evie claimed that she needed a day off. Upon hearing this, Jay had mentioned them coming to Swords and Shields practice again. The girls thought it might be fun to "show the ROAR team what a real fight looks like" - Mal's words - and said that they'd come. It was only this morning that Jay realized that he should have told Lonnie about this plan, since she is the team captain now. If she didn't like it, then Jay would have three angry girls: his captain, a dragon, and Evie. He didn't know which would be the worst, but together they would be a very bad combination. Very bad for Jay at least. Luckily for him, after she thought about it for a few seconds, Lonnie nodded.

"That's okay. I think that'd be good. Give the team some practice against different fighting techniques." Jay smiled in relief.

"Thanks!" Lonnie grinned.

"If you see any of the guys, tell them to put on full padding. We'll use the real swords. I'm sure Mal and Evie can handle it, but I have some extra padding if they want it." Jay nodded excitedly before he jogged off to find the girls.

"Great! I'll tell them." This will be fun.

* * *

Lonnie put a bin down on the floor before she whistled and called all of the guys to attention. She had talked to Mal and Evie, and Mal had said that Ben was even taking the time to come. Her friends had refused the padding and uniforms that she offered, even the masks. Ben had his own, and Mal and Evie said they'd be more comfortable without them. The three were now waiting outside, and the tournament was a go.

"Today we are doing something a little different." Carlos and Jay looked at one another. "We're having a practice tournament."

"Great!" Chad interruped. "I can show you wimps what a real champion looks like." Lonnie rolled her eyes while Jay and Carlos struggled not to laugh.

"We'll also be joined by some new opponents." She turned toward the main entrance and grinned. "Come on out!"

Mal, Evie, and Ben walked into the Swords and Shields arena. Ben was in his old practice uniform, but both girls were in full leather, turning the heads of all the guys there.

"Ben's here, too?" Carlos asked Jay. Ben, and everyone else, had heard him.

"I'll make it an even number," he shrugged. "Though I do hope I get eliminated soon, so that I can watch my beautiful girlfriend." Mal blushed as Ben held her hand, and Chad scoffed.

"We can't fight girls. They can't even be on the team."

Mal and Evie looked at one another. They'd each managed to make it to some of Jay and Carlos's tournaments.

"Are you scared you'll lose?" Mal asked innocently. Jay and Carlos struggled not to laugh, and Chad scoffed again.

"Of course not!"

"I see no reason not to have the tournament," Lonnie said quickly. "We'll compete in pairs. Like in an actual sword fight, whoever disarms their opponent first wins. Once your match is over, you can step off to the side and wait. The winner will then move on to the next round and face a new opponent." Chad frowned at the change in rules, but wisely said nothing.

Mal and Evie watched Lonnie, ready to start. They wore clothes that they had worn on the Isle because naturally it was the best material for sword fighting. You didn't walk around the Isle in anything but leather. It was more resistant than fabric, and Evie designed their clothes to be flexible enough to jump and maneuver in: essentials for any type of fight. It looked tough too, and appearance was half of any battle. Evie had always wondered why the Swords and Shields team wore mesh uniforms. The boys always looked exposed, since they didn't even protect their arms. Lonnie had apparently thought of this, too, as she opened the bin at her feet.

"If you would like wrist guards or pads for your arms, you can take them now. We will be using the tournament swords." Jay and Carlos grabbed the wrist guards, and some of the other guys followed their example.

"What's the difference between normal swords and tournament swords?" Evie asked curiously. Before Lonnie could answer Carlos clarified.

"Tournament swords are real swords. For practice we usually use these smooth metal rods that don't cut anything."

"Those are a type of fencing sword," Ben said, even though it meant nothing to the two girls. Evie looked confused, not seeing the point in using different swords for practice, but nodded.

"Let's begin." Ben and the Swords and Shields team moved into two lines, and Jay and Carlos pulled Mal and Evie next to them.

"Just do what we do for the start," Jay said. Mal nodded. Ben had shown her and Evie the starting positions in the hallway before they came in. Lonnie stood across from Ben, and called out the commands to start the first round.

"Assemble. Salute. Lower the point. Masks down." Everyone lowered their masks but Mal and Evie, who had opted not to wear any. "On guard." The fight was on and the sound of swords clashing rose through the air. Mal was across from Chad, and she waited as he tried to attack, parrying his various thrusts. Evie danced around Taylor, who was finding it difficult to land a blow. Mal carefully watched Chad for a few seconds before becoming impatient.

"Okay, enough of this." She attacked, forcing Chad to take a step back. He frowned as he realized that he was beginning to lose, and lunged for her left shoulder. Mal hit his sword at the right angle to force it out of his hand. With striking accuracy, she hit the sword again from the bottom, sending the hilt into her hands. Chad stepped back in disbelief.

"What? But, that's not fair! How is that even possible?" Mal rolled her eyes as Chad continued to protest, choosing instead to step back and watch her friends in their matches. Ben and Lonnie were in a heated battle of jabs and rolls, while Jay and Carlos had each won their matches and stepped off to the side. Evie circled Taylor and spun her sword, catching his hilt and sending his sword clattering to the ground before she stepped on the blade. She didn't need to, since the match was over, but old habits die hard. You don't let the enemy take back their weapon.

"Wow," Taylor said. He raised his eyebrows, impressed. "That was incredible." Evie blushed as she picked his sword from the ground, and handed it back to him.

"Thanks." Lonnie and Ben were still fighting, and Mal noticed another pair of guys dueling that she didn't recognize. The match continued and Evie joined her on the edge of the arena's boundary lines. "Is it just me, or was that too easy?" She had spoken in a low voice, but the boys still heard her. "Shouldn't that have taken at least a couple minutes?" Jay and Carlos nodded in understanding. The other guys had gotten better since the start of the season, but Lonnie was still the only one who could really challenge them.

"Too easy?" Chad was still mad, and Taylor looked incredulous.

"Trust me, Princess. I didn't go easy on you." Mal turned to her friend to respond.

"They were just predictable." She tilted her head and pointed out, "They also have no actual experience." Evie nodded as she realized that sword fights probably weren't very common in Auradon. Doug didn't even know how to sword fight. Evie had been planning on teaching him ever since she learned that piece of information, but hadn't actually started yet.

"No experience?!" Chad scoffed. "I've been fencing since I was a kid!" Evie shook her head.

"No, that's not what she meant." She paused to figure out what to say, but Jay stepped into the conversation right on time.

"When Mal said experience, she didn't mean fencing or ROAR. She was talking about actual sword fights, like with pirates. You know, where you win, you live, you lose, you die."

"Or at least get out before you do," Carlos added. Taylor balked at their nonchalant tone.

"Did- You had those?" he asked in disbelief. The group did a collective shrug.

"Only in turf wars" Mal clarified calmly. Even Chad looked surprised as Evie, Jay, and Carlos nodded.

"Wait, wait." Chad said nervously. "Do you mean that you've fought _pirates_ and almost _died_?!" Evie and Carlos both nodded as Mal shrugged, and Jay clapped his hand on Taylor's back.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean it's not that surprising, is it?" He looked back at the arena. "Hey looks like Ben and Lonnie are done. Now we only need to wait for Finn and Sanders" Ben jogged over to the group with Lonnie close behind, and went to stand beside his girlfriend.

"Hey guys, what's up?"


	3. Another Round

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tournament continues.

Ben blew out a puff of air as his sword met Lonnie's again. He realigned himself and parried Lonnie's new attack. How is she so fast? he asked himself. He was having trouble keeping up with her. Over the last few minutes Lonnie had done more unfamiliar moves than he'd seen the entire time he'd fought on the Swords and Shields team. Ben made a mental note to come to more of the team's matches. If Lonnie was this good, then it was no wonder that they were undefeated. The next thing he knew, Lonnie had flung his sword from his hands. Ben tried to dive for it as it clattered on the floor, but Lonnie reached it first. She held the two swords in front of her, but Ben held up his hands in surrender.

"Good match," she said. Ben only nodded as he tried to catch his breath.

"Yeah. That was incredible! I've never seen some of those attacks before. Where did you learn to do that?" Lonnie smiled.

"Some of them I learned from my brother, I picked up a few moves from Jay, and I created a couple of my own by combining the two." She shrugged modestly, but Ben could tell that she was proud of her abilities. As she should be. "Come on, we're one of the last pairs." She gestured toward the group standing off to the side, and Ben grinned as he ran over to his girlfriend. Lonnie shook her head with a smile before she jogged after him.

* * *

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Ben asked as he joined the group.

"Just waiting for the next round," Mal smiled up at him. Taylor nodded, but he looked concerned. Taylor was always a great sport, and Chad was standing off to the side seemingly shocked. Ben had to wonder if something happened while he and Lonnie were sparring. Then again, Chad was a little excitable, and Taylor might only be concerned with keeping him in check.

"Oh, okay." Finn and Sanders, the last pair fighting finally came and joined them. Lonnie grinned excitedly, she hoped that the would get to test herself against one of the girls. She'd have other chances to work with the team, but who knew when or even if she would have the opportunity to spar with Evie or Mal.

"Now that round one is finished, if you have been eliminated, please take a seat on the bench while we pair up for round two." Jay and Carlos looked at each other as Taylor pulled Chad off to the side with him.

"I call Evie!" Jay and Carlos both shouted at the same time.

"I always spar with Evie," Carlos hissed at Jay.

"Then let's change it up."

"I don't wanna take Mal," Carlos whispered incredulously.

"Neither do I."

"Well, you've got more-"

"Boys!" They froze and turned to Mal guiltily. "What is going on here?" she asked imperiously. Jay scratched the back of his head nervously while Carlos looked down at the floor. Evie rolled her eyes, and turned to the unknown boy who had just finished his first match.

"What's your name?" She asked sweetly.

"Uh… everyone just calls me Sanders." Evie turned back to Jay and Carlos.

"I'll be sparring Sanders this round." She shot them a look daring them to defy her, so they just nodded. Mal crossed her arms.

"So who am I sparring?" She asked pointedly. Jay sighed, about to volunteer, but Lonnie beat him to it.

"I'll have a go." Mal sent an icy glare at Jay and Carlos, who winced, before turning back to Lonnie.

"Let's go then," she challenged with a smirk.

"I guess it's you and me then," Jay told Carlos.

"Yeah." The three pairs took their places on the mats in the center of the room. Lonnie called out the commands to start the match, and the fighting began.

Evie noticed that fighting Sanders was pretty similar to fighting Taylor, almost easier. He left his left side open, and he wasn't as light on his feet. This made it easy for her to distract him with footwork while she made an attack at his wrist. He was protected by the wrist guard, and but he did loosen his grip on his sword a fraction. That little bit was just enough for Evie to use her blade to catch the hilt of his sword and force it out of his hand. The clang as it fell to the floor was silenced as she stepped on the blade, just like in her match with Taylor. Sanders just stood in awe.

"Wow. Good match," he said. Evie smiled.

"Thanks! You, too." She stooped to get his sword and handed it back to him. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but just nodded as he realized nothing was coming out. He blushed, and Evie saved him from the silence.

"Let's go over to the side and watch the others."

* * *

"Wow! Ben, you've got to get Mal to join the team, bro. Evie, too!" Ben turned to see Taylor pointing at Evie disarming Sanders.

"Wow," was all he could manage to say. He shook his head. "It hasn't even been two minutes!" He went back to watching his girlfriend in awe. He'd known that she was handy with a sword, since they did have a huge sword fight with Uma and her crew just before Cotillion, but he hadn't taken the time to realize just how good she was. Mal crouched defensively, still smirking, swiftly blocking Lonnie's blows. Lonnie pushed her leg off the block behind her to get some extra power, but Mal anticipated it and somehow jumped over Lonnie and onto the block itself. She attacked downward at Lonnie, forcing the girl to defend herself. Their swords were moving faster than Ben could keep up with. He glanced over at Jay and Carlos, but it was hard to tell what was going on with Jay jumping around and Carlos sticking so close to the ground.

"Is it just me, or does this round seem… more fast paced than usual?" Taylor nodded.

"They're fast. It's hard to keep up with. I was having a hard time keeping up with Evie when I was the one fighting her. This, though. I don't know, man. I can't even tell who's winning."

"Oh, Jay's winning his match against Carlos," Evie jumped in as she and Sanders joined them by the wall. "Carlos is evading most of his attacks, but he's probably really missing his leather right now. He wouldn't have to worry so much about dodging and could actually make a couple attacks instead of worrying so much about dodging Jay's. Jay doesn't feel too much when it comes to skin, so he's not too worried about getting cut up. He'll probably win anyway. He used to fight Harry when we were battling the Wharf Rats, and while Carlos is a good swordsman, he's not Harry." Ben nodded in response, but the other guys were confused.

"Uh, who's Harry?" Sanders asked quietly.

"Oh, Harry Hook." The boys, minus Ben, exchanged bewildered looks and silently decided not to press for anymore information. They weren't entirely sure what they were asking about, and Taylor for one, wasn't sure if he wanted to know. By this time, Evie had already turned her attention to the match between Lonnie and Mal.

"Ouch!" She murmured, wincing as watched the match.

"You okay, Princess?" Taylor asked.

"What? Oh, I'm fine," Evie explained. "Lonnie just made a huge mistake. She hit Mal's shoulder blade. She probably doesn't know, but she just made the match-" Evie stopped talking as a bang echoed through the amphitheater. Lonnie's sword had flung halfway across the room to bounce off the wall. "-personal," Evie finished with a sigh. "I'll be right back."

"Do you understand what just happened?" Finn asked Sanders, who shook his head. "Do you, Ben?"

"Huh? I have no clue." He got up to go find out but Taylor put an arm on his shoulder.

"It might be better to wait a minute. Evie seems like she knows what she's doing, and she didn’t ask us to go with her. Let… whatever that is cool off for a minute." Ben looked pained but he sat back down and tried to focus on the match between Jay and Carlos.


	4. Mal and Evie Come to Practice Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evie does damage control, and the mock tournament comes to a close.

Lonnie didn't know what to make of her situation. One minute she and Mal were having the single greatest swordfight ever, and the next, Evie was pulling a sword away from her throat. She looked up from the floor, dazed, to see Evie rubbing Mal's upper arms.

"Mal, it's okay. We're in Auradon. She's not here. She's a lizard now, just a little tiny lizard. It's okay." Mal wasn't responsive, so Evie just kept talking. "Lonnie didn't know. She's not out to get us. She's not Uma. You were just sparring," Evie smiled a little as she gestured to the crowd of boys watching from the sidelines. "just showing the guys how _strong_ a swordfighter you are." That seemed to break Mal out of whatever was wrong before. She put her face in her hands, and Lonnie wasn't sure if she should look away.

"E, I- That was so weak. I just, I felt the sword on my back, and I was on Wharf, and-" Mal looked up at Evie again in alarm. "Oh no, Lonnie!" She looked around to see Lonnie on the ground and immediately came over to help her up. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Lonnie nodded, still trying to process the situation. Mal was starting to ramble now. "-anyone but Jay in a long time, and I didn't even think-" By now the two boys had noticed that something had happened, and cut their match short to come and see what was going on. Jay pulled Evie aside.

"What happened?"

"Lonnie hit Mal's shoulder blade when they were sparring. I was able to stop it before it went too far, but they're both shaken up." Jay clenched his fist and puffed out a breath of air in agitation.

"Okay," he said. "Get Lonnie fixed up. Carlos knows where the first aid kit is."

"How should I answer her questions?" Evie asked. "She seems more confused than anything, so I know she's going to ask."

"Be as vague as you can. I'll try to help Mal." He shook his head. "I'm not good at this kind of stuff," he complained as he went to go comfort his sister. Evie took that as her cue to gently grab Lonnie by the arm, and lead her away. She nodded at Carlos to get him to follow.

"Carlos will go get a first aid kit, so we can get that cut dressed. Did you get hurt anywhere else?" Carlos ran off at Evie's not so subtle request, and Lonnie blinked at Evie's almost maternal tone.

"I think I hit my head." She paused for a minute, trying to get her bearings. "What just happened?"

"Oh, you just finished your match with Mal. You did really well. The only people I've seen take her on like that are Jay, Uma, and Harry. Good job!" Evie said almost too perkily.

"No," Lonnie protested, still dazed. "I mean, what happened at the end of the match?"

"Oh," Evie said less happily. "Mal just remembered something and reacted on instinct. Old habits die hard, you know," she laughed nervously. She sat Lonnie down on the bench. "Does anything hurt? Do you have a headache?"

"No, I'm fine."

"No nausea? Dizziness?"

Lonnie gave her blue haired friend a funny look. "No."

"Can you follow my finger, please?" Lonnie nodded, and proceeded to follow Evie's finger from left to right with her eyes.

Ben had been concerned when Evie left to intervene in Mal's match with Lonnie, but he was even more so when he noticed Jay and Carlos approaching the three girls, too. The only thing that kept him from investigating what happened himself was Taylor's hand on his shoulder. He was confused when Carlos ran off, but when Evie brought Lonnie back to the bench, he couldn't just stand there anymore. Ben headed over to where Evie was sitting by Lonnie just as Carlos came back with a box. He noticed it was a first aid kit.

"Hey, is everybody okay? What happened?"

"Oh, you know, typical post-sparring injury check," said nonchalantly without turning away from Lonnie. "It doesn't look like you have a concussion, but if you feel nauseous, dizzy, or develop a headache have someone take you to the nurse."

Lonnie frowned. "Okay." She seemed stuck on something. "Wait, do you check for concussions every time you guys spar?"

"No?" Evie said, grabbing an antiseptic wipe from the first aid kit to wash out the cut on Lonnie's neck. Luckily it wasn't very deep, and Mal hadn't cut her anywhere near her carotid artery.

Ben's confusion was even more obvious than Lonnie's. "Then why did you have to check now?"

"Better safe than sorry." Evie paused as she applied antibacterial ointment to the small wound. "Mal's a difficult partner. Jay's probably the only one she's never hurt in a sword fight at some point. We probably shouldn't have let her spar with anyone but the three of us, but we never really sparred for fun with anyone else so we didn't really think about it."

Lonnie frowned, a little insulted. "But I spar with Jay all the time. Half the time I win. Why would this be any different?"

Ben nodded, wondering the same thing.

Evie hesitated. "Well, it's different, because Jay's not trying to kill you. Not that Mal wants to kill you," she quickly added at the surprise on Lonnie's face and the horror on Ben's. "It's just, you can't touch Mal's back when you spar with her. She had a bad experience and lashes out when it happens." She gave Lonnie a sheepish smile. "I don't know how good you are when you aren't holding back, but I do know that Jay doesn't use half of the power and speed he can fight with at Swords and Shields tournaments."

Lonnie's surprise quickly turned to anger. "You mean he's been going easy on me? On everyone? This whole time?" She turned to Carlos, who'd been sitting there silently. "What about you? Have you been letting us win this entire time, too?"

"N-no!" he stuttered. "We haven't let anyone win! It's just, different. We don't wanna stab you!" Evie patted him on the arm to calm him down and tried to take control of the conversation, again. "We're all used to fights where you want to hurt your opponent as much as possible-"

"Yeah," Carlos interjected. "We just need more time to concentrate on _not_ doing that, so we're a little slower than usual."

Ben was still bewildered. "So a minute ago you and Jay were trying to kill each other?"

"No!" Carlos protested. "We just-- we know that we won't kill each other. We're used to fighting like that, so we can take it."

"And we can't?" Lonnie challenged.

"No!" Carlos nearly yelled. "Your lives have never almost ended because you made a mistake in a fight. You've never watched somebody die in a swordfight, or been the one to kill them. We make a mistake in Swords and Shields and we lose the match, but if you make a mistake in a real fight--" Carlos stopped.

"If you're fighting on the Isle, you're fighting for your life," Evie said quietly. "It's like I said earlier. Old habits die hard."

"But the swordfight on the Isle when we went to get Ben was fine. No one got hurt," Lonnie said.

"That fight with Uma and the Wharf Rats was nothing. We were trying to keep the bloodshed to a minimum. The Isle's version of gym class was more cutthroat than that," Carlos tried to joke.

"Even so," Evie added. "A couple of the Wharf Rats ended up in the water with Tick Tock, so who's to say if anyone got hurt."

Lonnie looked white-faced, and Ben looked a little green. "I didn't know that," he said.

The two Isle kids exchanged a look. "They were kind of asking for it," Carlos said with a shrug. 

Evie gave a small sigh. "They knew what they were getting into when they started the fight. It could've been worse."

"And this stuff happens all the time on the Isle?" Ben asked, his face scrunched up in concern.

"Well, yeah." Carlos said. "I mean, it's a whole bunch of villains fighting over a small island. What did you think it was like?"

Evie elbowed Carlos in the side and spoke over his short cry of pain. "Should we finish up the tournament, or do you think we should stop for the day?"

"Let's finish the tournament," Lonnie decided.

* * *

Everyone sat on the bleachers to watch Mal and Jay spar for the last round. After Jay had talked her down, Mal had claimed that she felt okay enough to spar with him. Evie took herself out of the tournament on the excuse that Jay and Mal always beat her anyways. Taylor had raised an eyebrow at that, remembering their match from the first round, but wisely didn't say anything.

Lonnie called out the commands for the start. "Assemble. Salute. Lower the point. Masks down. On guard."

The sound of metal scraping against itself echoed through the arena as their swords clashed, milliseconds after the last word. It was incredible. Jay attacked around Mal's left arm, and she used his approaching sword as leverage to throw herself up on a block behind her, immediately swinging at Jay's shoulder. He caught her sword with his own and another clang rang through the air. Jay ducked and swept at Mal's feet with his sword, but she flipped off the block and over him to slash at his back.

Several minutes passed by, and Carlos and Evie found themselves narrating the fight for the Swords and Shields team as Jay and Mal seemed to pick up speed. They had each gotten a few hits on each other, but Mal was protected by her leather gear, and Jay didn't pay any mind to the cuts where his uniform left him open. At one point, Mal's sword made a graceful arc above her, but before anyone could clap or congratulate Jay for having disarmed and beaten her, she shoved Jay to the ground with a kick to the chest, and leapt to catch her sword. Jay managed to stand again as she landed and their swords clashed again. The match lasted almost a half an hour, the two Isle kids more evenly matched than any of the previous matches. Then just as the sound of clashing metal seemed to become normal, the fight suddenly ended. Mal held both swords in her hands.

The Swords and Shields Team erupted in applause, and Jay turned around to give a theatrical bow. He grinned and gestured for Mal to take a bow, as well, but she just smirked at his antics and crossed her arms defiantly, somehow managing not to cut herself while she held a sword in each hand.

"You're losing your touch," Mal teased as she and Jay joined everyone else at the bleachers.

"Me? I almost disarmed you a handful of times."

"Key word being 'almost.' Who's holding two swords right now?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Ben threw an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. "That was amazing."

Mal blushed, "Thanks."

"You should really consider joining the team next year," Taylor jumped in. He turned toward Evie. "You too, princess. We could really use your skills."

"No, no, no!" Chad protested. "They can't join the team, because it has to be a 'captain and eight _men_.' No girls allowed."

Ben frowned. "I think it's time we change that. I officially know more women who can best me in a sword fight than men, so it seems silly that they can't join the team. I'll talk to the Auradonian Knights of ROAR and see what they have to say." He nudged Mal. "Maybe if they see how spectacular my Lady is, they'll realize how silly it is."

Unsure how to deal with the all of the public praise, she gave an uncomfortable smile. "Alright. I'm outta here. I'm hungry and I want food, so… bye!" She turned around to stroll out of the arena without Ben and Evie.

"Uhh, I'm gonna go, too. See you all later!" Ben said quickly before running to try and catch up with Mal.

Evie fondly shook her head at the pair. "It was nice sparring with you," she told Sanders and Taylor. She gave Jay and Carlos each a brief hug, and then gave a genuine smile to Lonnie. "Thanks for letting us come today. It was fun."

Lonnie smiled back, replying with an "of course," as Evie gracefully left the arena. "Okay, we have another forty minutes of practice, so let's grab some practice swords."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the end of Swords and Shields. I hope you've enjoyed it, and let me know in the comments if there is anything in particular that you might want me to expand in another story! I'm currently in the middle of another story called Scars Exposed and Secrets Unfold on fanfiction.net that I've been waiting to upload on AO3 when I have the next chapter, so your prompt/idea could make it into that story if I can work it in. Thanks for all of your support.


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